April 19, 2024
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La Salle animal shelter receives $5 donation they’ll never forget

IVAR one of 2,900 shelters to get donations from Pennsylvania teen with cancer

By Tom Collins

Illinois Valley Animal Rescue President Sue Jacobsen and Executive Director Chris Tomsha hold a thank you and $5 gift card from Avery Sontheimer of Coree, Pennsylvania at IVAR on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Snotheimer started her own mission in March 2020 by donating $5 gift cards to random animal hospitals and shelters all over the country. "$5 is not much but something is better than nothing and I know donations can go a long way," Avery said. (Scott Anderson)

You’re one of the places I chose to help because of my passion for animals. Thanks for everything you do.

—  Avery Sontheimer, 14, of Corry, Pennsylvania, who has cancer

Avery Sontheimer

Chris Tomsha receives donations all the time for Illinois Valley Animal Rescue. Usually, it takes a pretty big number to get her to raise her eyebrows – but it was a recent donation of $5 that brought tears to her eyes.

Tomsha is executive director of IVAR, and last week she opened an envelope containing a Walmart gift card for $5. It had come from Avery Sontheimer, a 14-year-old from Corry, Pennsylvania, who’s battling a rare cancer. Avery had launched a fundraiser for animal shelters and, as word of her illness spread, donations have poured in. IVAR is one of nearly 2,900 shelters to which Avery has sent money.

“You’re one of the places I chose to help because of my passion for animals,” Avery wrote. “Thanks for everything you do.”

Tomsha had a reply for that: No, Avery, thank you.

“I started crying,” Tomsha said. “My life is pretty good right now.”

Avery launched her fundraiser, Avery’s Pawsitive Change, in March 2020 and kept at it even after a diagnosis in July: Ewing sarcoma, a cancer affecting the bones or adjoining tissue. Before and especially after Avery’s diagnosis, people responded enthusiastically to her appeals, and she amassed an impressive $1,100 in her first three months alone.

As donations continued to arrive, Avery extended her donations across the map, and 2,862 shelters have received gift cards as of Valentine’s Day.

“I love helping animals,” Avery said. “I’ve seen the need with the pandemic and so many animal shelters closing their doors, which means so many animals were not able to get a second chance. I was hoping by sending gift cards to shelters I could help just a little and also an encouraging letter because animal shelter life is not easy.”

Life hasn’t been easy for Avery, either. Her site includes updates on her 14 rounds of chemotherapy. She’s on round 12 and is hopeful.

“I am doing good,” she reported cheerfully. “After the 14 rounds of chemo they will do scans. I will have to either have surgery and radiation to my lungs or just radiation depending on what the scans say. My dream is to open my own shelter here in Corry. Our closest shelter is an hour away.”

She may get her wish, as donations have snowballed and she’s won accolades from animal rights groups. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals honored her with the Hero to Animals Award after she passed 2,000 gift cards and drew more than 7,000 to her fundraiser page.

“We celebrate this wonderful, selfless girl who is making the world a better place by caring for others,” wrote Michelle Feinberg, a senior writer for PETA. “Her determination and passion for helping animals make us all want to be better activists, too.”

To donate, visit Avery’s Pawsitive Change on Facebook or www.gofundme.com/f/avery039s-pawsitive-change.